Race between vaccine programme and virus may become 'great deal tighter'

• The Army will be sent to hotspots worst-hit by the Indian variant of coronavirus under a "surge vaccination" plan to protect the vulnerable, the Prime Minister has announced.

• Vaccine hesitancy could be behind the rise of the Indian Covid variant.

• Some 900,000 people in the UK now live in an area where the Indian variant may be the most common strain of Covid-19, data suggests.

• Boris Johnson said that the easing of lockdown restrictions would continue in spite of a spike in Indian variant cases. Ben-Riley Smith outlines the rules that are changing on Monday here.

• Nearly 20 flights carrying British holidaymakers will arrive in Portugal on Monday after the country ended days of uncertainty by lifting its travel ban.

• The NHS on Thursday night performed a climbdown over plans to use online and telephone "screening" for GP appointments and announced that every patient would now have the right to see their doctor face-to-face.

• Face masks are set to stay in the classroom as schools and councils prepare to defy government guidance.

• The majority of adults are reluctant to return to concerts and sporting events that have socially-distanced queues, government data show.

Italian health authorities are urgently trying to establish whether thousands of Covid-19 tests carried out by an "unauthorised" testing centre were conducted correctly and whether their results can be relied upon, reports Erica Di Blasi in Turin.

Italian police have arrested the manager of the centre in Vercelli, near Milan, amid allegations that he pretended to be a doctor.

The manager, Andrea Adessi, 53, has also been accused of masquerading as a coronavirus expert in TV interviews. He has been interviewed in dozens of broadcasts in recent months because of his involvement in the screening of entire towns in the north of the country.

His centre was responsible for the testing in September last year of the entire population of the town of Robbio, south-west of Milan, the first place in Italy to perform this type of mass screening.

The centre also tested the employees of various public bodies.

Prosecutors in Vercelli began to investigate Mr Adessi in January for "abusive exercise of the medical profession" and for having started an analysis centre for unauthorised Covid tests.

Police from Turin yesterday executed a "precautionary custody order" against Mr Adessi, which forced him to resign from his position as manager of the diagnostic centre.

He has denied the accusations. "I resigned not because I am guilty but because that is what was asked of me and I have faith in justice," he said. "I have never pretended to be a doctor."

SAGE says is highly likely the variant that emerged in India is more transmissible than the Kent variant and that it is a "realistic possibility that it is as much as 50% more transmissible".

It adds that there are "plausible biological reasons" as to why some of the mutations present could make this variant more transmissible.

John Swinney has been forced to deny presiding over a second lockdown school qualifications debacle in two years after hearing evidence of pupils being at “breaking point”, reports Georgina Hayes.

The Education Secretary, who came close to losing his job over last summer’s exams fiasco, was told his “fingerprints are all over” the mounting scandal. 

Mr Swinney was called to the Scottish Parliament on Friday afternoon to answer an urgent question over growing concern about the assessments currently being sat by senior school pupils.

Although teenagers across Scotland were promised they would not have to sit exams this year after immense disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, teachers and students claim the 'alternative assessments' imposed in their place are exams in all but name.

Councillor Andy Morgan, Bolton council’s cabinet member for adult social services, said the council had been given some "flexibility" to vaccinate younger people and would be offering vaccines to all over-18s in three of the worst affected wards from Saturday.

Councillor Morgan told The Guardian that: "Our interpretation of the guidance is that we can start to vaccinate 18s and over in BL3 tomorrow, subject to vaccination supply.”

He said: “We’ve got some flexibility locally to surge-vaccinate, but the biggest thing for Bolton is not being locked down, which would have been devastating for the town.

Following the prime minister's press conference today regarding the Indian variant, Layla Moran MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus, said: "Boris Johnson must take responsibility for the failure to prevent the Indian variant taking root in the UK. Once again the government acted too late, and the country is sadly paying the price.

“Urgent action is now needed to help local authorities contain local surges, including by improving the failing Test, Trace and Isolate system and providing proper financial support for those self-isolating.

“The government must listen to the advice of their own scientists, who are warning that we could face another deadly wave once restrictions are lifted on Monday.

“Ministers must also prevent this happening again by fixing their flawed border policy and discouraging all non-essential overseas travel, as the Welsh government has done."

Prof Whitty said the UK was sticking to the tests it set itself when it first laid out the road map out of lockdown.

"(The) vaccine deployment programme remains successful, vaccines are reducing hospitalisations and deaths - there is very clear evidence they are and nothing has changed on that.

"Infection rates are not causing NHS pressure - the data on that is really clear, and with the variants of concern, excluding the (India variant), really there's no change - most of them are relatively stable."

Prof Whitty said that the UK's leading scientists still believed that vaccination would protect against severe disease and hospital admissions from the variant.

"We're not so confident about the degree to which it protects against milder disease and transmission, and that's just because we don't have the data but that will come with time," he said.

The PM defended not closing the UK's borders to India sooner, saying that between March and April the South Africa variant was of greater concern than the India variant.

"Don't forget everyone coming from India, or indeed anywhere else, had to face very tough quarantine rules," he added.

"We are concerned about this variant and we do think, I think, that it certainly may cause disruption to our attempts to continue down the road map, but they don't at the moment, change the assessment about about (the next) step."

The PM said that even in Bolton the NHS was not seeing an increase in hospital admissions and the level of hospitalisations across the country remains "quite flat".

Boris Johnson has said that he does not expect new countries to be added to the quarantine-free green list "very rapidly".

The Prime Minister told the Downing Street press conference: "There's a very limited list as you know and we will certainly be making sure that people travelling abroad will be subject to all the tests and constraints to prevent the virus being reimported.

"That's why it's such a tiny list of countries and I don't expect we will be adding to it very rapidly."

A downbeat Boris Johnson has said he does not think it is "impossible" to go ahead with step four of the road map to easing coronavirus restrictions.

The Prime Minister told the Downing Street press conference: "This doesn't mean that it's impossible that we will be able to go ahead with step four.

"I don't think that's the case at all. But it does now mean there's the risk of disruption and delay, and delay to that ambition, and we have to be utterly realistic about that."

The army is being deployed to support local leaders in managing the response to the Indian variant on the ground, Boris Johnson said. 

The response will include surge testing, mobile testing units and the army will be on the streets handing out tests.

There will be “targeted new activity” in Bolton and Blackburn to accelerate the vaccine take-up, including longer opening hours at vaccination sites.

Boris Johnson has warned that the Indian coronavirus variant could "pose a serious disruption" to plans to ease restrictions and "could make it more difficult" to end them as hoped in June.

The Prime Minister told the Downing Street press conference: "I do not believe that we need, on the present evidence, to delay our road map and we will proceed with our plan to move to step three in England from Monday.

"But I have to level with you that this new variant could pose a serious disruption to our progress and could make it more difficult to move to step four in June."

Boris Johnson is asked when those under 30 will receiver their first vaccine. 

Prof Whitty said the UK is going "in a very steady but rapid progression in terms of vaccination", starting with the most vulnerable people, including some people in their 30s. 

The programme is going in a steady downward progression in terms of age because the risk is strongly correlated with age, he says. 

Prof Whitty says he hopes everybody has their first vaccine by end of July. 

"That is the aim".

Boris Johnson has said the numbers of infections across England, even with the new variant, remain low overall across the country, even in Bolton. 

"We are not seeing the significant new numbers of hospitalizations," he added. 

He said: "We are in throes of an extraordinary vaccine rollout. We have just got to wait and see the extent to which the new variant may be more transmissible. 

"We will continue to proceed with caution but we rule nothing out."

Boris Johnson has warned the public that "we will have to live with this new variant for some time". 

"Let us live together and exercise common sense and caution," he adds. 

Mr Johnson has also said the race between the vaccination programme and the virus could get tighter.

He added the Government will therefore be administering second doses to over-50s and the clinically vulnerable.

Boris Johnson says: "We have seen further clusters of the Indian variant especially in Bolton, Blackburn and Darwen.

"It is more transmissible but we don't know by how much."

"I am told that if it is marginally transmissible we can continue as planned."

"We have no evidence that vaccines will be less effectiveness against serious illness and hospitalization caused by the variant".

"I do not believe we have enough evidence to delay the roadmap out of lockdown." 

Italy will scrap mandatory quarantine from Sunday for visitors from the European Union, Britain and Israel who test negative for Covid-19, the government said on Friday as it looks to give summer tourism a boost.

With vaccine roll-outs picking up pace in the EU, more countries are looking to ease travel curbs and restrictions on the hospitality sector to help it recover from the pandemic.

"We have been waiting for this move for a long time and it anticipates a Europe-wide travel pass," Tourism Minister Massimo Garavaglia said.

The EU plans to start a unified system recording Covid-19 vaccinations, tests and recovery from June to allow more movement.

Most NHS workers in Scotland will enjoy an average pay bump of four per cent - "the most generous increase anywhere in the UK".

It means health workers in Scotland, from porters to nurses and paramedics, will be roughly £1,500 to £2,900 better off than their English counterparts throughout 2021-22, said the Scottish Government.

Unions welcomed the salary boost, which will benefit around 154,000 healthcare staff and will retrospectively cover pay packets from December 2020 and run until March next year when another deal is expected to be negotiated.

The pay uplift comes on top of the £500 "thank you" payment for health staff announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last November.

The offer was accepted by the majority of unions representing NHS workers and will benefit staff with contracts under the Agenda for Change system, with payments expected to kick in from this summer.

The Prime Minister will hold a press conference from Downing Street at 5:30.

He will be joined by Professor Chris Whitty, England's Chief Medical Officer. 

Boris Johnson is expected to provide an update on the highly infectious Indian variant of coronavirus which threatens to delay the planned lifting of lockdown on June 21. 

You can follow all the latest updates here. 

South Africa is teetering on the brink of a devastating third wave with all the country’s provinces showing a dramatic surge in infections. 

In public, the country’s health minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has denied that the country has entered a third wave.

However, a communication from the minister to the provincial governments which has been widely circulated in the local press says otherwise. 

“For all intents and purposes, we are in a third wave even if not fitting in [the] technical definition. The numbers will no longer go down other than if we start intensive containment measures,” Dr Mkhize says in the communication.

Peta Thornycroft in Johannesburg and Will Brown report

The government said a further 17 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, bringing the UK total to 127,668.

Separate figures published by the UK's official statistics agencies show that there have been 152,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

The government also said that, as of 9am on Friday, there had been a further 2,193 lab-confirmed cases in the UK.

This brings the total to 4,446,824.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon stressed that Scotland's battle against coronavirus "remains good."

She added: "It is inevitable that as we continue to navigate our way through this pandemic, we will hit bumps in the road, however, if we exercise suitable caution as we're seeking to do today, then even though that is difficult, we are much more likely to stay on the right track overall."

Germany has avoided a dramatic fall in its birth rate in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, defying the trend across much of the developed world, reports Justin Huggler.

While births have fallen 3.6 per cent in the UK and 4 per cent in the US since the pandemic began, Germany only recorded a relatively small drop of 0.6 per cent last year.

That may be down to the way Germany escaped the first wave largely unscathed last year, according to Dr Martin Bujard, a fertility expert at the country’s Federal Institute for Population Research.

While it never saw infection rates or deaths as high as the UK’s, and its health system was never overloaded, it has been hit hard by the second and third waves. “There are three main ways in which the pandemic affects the birth rate," said Dr Bujard. 

"Health concerns, which make people less likely to have children and drive the rate down. Economic concerns, which also drive it down. And the ‘cocooning effect’ of lockdown, which can drive it up." 

The new weddings guidance from the Government "continues to be unfairly penalising our sector", according to a UK Weddings Taskforce spokesperson.

With weddings of up to 30 people set to take place from May 17, guidance that the wedding sector had been eagerly awaiting was released on Thursday.

That guidance advises against dancing - apart from the first dance for the bride and groom - and allows groups of up to six musicians to perform indoors, among other rules.

But the industry continues to be confused at some of the restrictions in place.

"It's dented consumer confidence," said UK Weddings Taskforce spokesperson Sarah Haywood.

"People are giving up now, they don't believe the Prime Minister isn't going to do a U-turn over June 21.

"(The guidance) kept not coming and not coming and not coming - now it's come out and had a significant impact on events next week.

"This is supposed to be a happy time for people planning their weddings."

Some of those planning their weddings have been using the hashtag £WhatAboutWeddings to share the problems they are facing.

The care regulator has "retreated to the sidelines" throughout the coronavirus pandemic, leaving older people in care at risk, a charity has said.

Judy Downey, chairwoman of the Relatives & Residents Association, said the Care Quality Commission (CQC)'s failure to adapt has left care home residents "feeling bereft" of protection and scrutiny.

In a letter to chief executive Ian Trenholm, she said residents have been neglected by the system at a time when they needed it most.

The CQC said it has taken "decisive action" throughout the pandemic, including undergoing more than 7,000 inspections and making it clear to providers that blanket approaches to visiting are unacceptable.

Since early March, indoor visits at care homes in England have been permitted by the government.

From Monday, residents can have visits from up to five designated loved ones, as well as from a designated essential caregiver. 

Residents will be allowed to leave their care homes for more visits out, such as for medical appointments or to visit day centres.

The coronavirus pandemic slowed its pace around the world for the second week in a row, despite raging cases in India.

According to AFP, the number of new daily cases of Covid-19 around the world dropped by six per cent last week to 743,900. 

The pandemic slowed markedly in the United States and Canada, where there were 21 per cent less cases, in Europe, where cases dropped by 20 per cent and in the Middle East, where there was a 16 per cent decrease.

The decrease has been slower in Asia, where cases dropped by just two per cent and in Africa where the decrease was just one per cent.

The number of new cases however increased by five per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Turkey will ease cautiously out of a full lockdown next week and lift restrictions more significantly in June, President Erdogan said on Friday, after cases started to fall from the peak seen during the second wave of the pandemic.

Turkish authorities imposed the lockdown two weeks ago after the number of daily Covid-19 cases soared above 60,000, one of the highest rates globally, and deaths reached nearly 400 a day.

The surge in cases, and continued travel restrictions both in the UK and around the globe, have threatened Turkey's tourist industry and lucrative summer season, and has already led to the switch of the Champions League final from Istanbul to Portugal. Formula One also called off the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix on Friday.

Erdogan said that a "controlled normalisation calendar" would start on Monday.

Following new federal guidance allowing people to ditch their masks in most public places, it will be up to individuals to decide how best to protect themselves now that vaccines are readily available, top US health officials said on Friday.

"What we're really doing is empowering individuals to make decisions about their own health," US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.

"If you are vaccinated and you're making the decision to take off your mask ... you are safe. If you are unvaccinated, then you've made the decision to take that risk."

She said officials were still encouraging unvaccinated people to get their shots as soon as possible to protect themselves and others against coronavirus.

"People who are unvaccinated should not be taking off their masks," Walensky told CBS News. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease official, echoed the idea that looser recommendations should encourage people to get their vaccines.

Germany plans to classify Britain as a coronavirus risk region due to the emergence of the Indian variant, government sources said on Friday.

A final decision could be made as early as Friday, the sources told Reuters. 

A small number of cases of the Indian variant have been found in Cambridge, according to Public Health England.

Dr David Edwards, Consultant in Health Protection at PHE East, said: “Following a rise in the number of cases of coronavirus in Cambridge, Public Health England (PHE), Cambridgeshire County Council and Cambridge City Council have been working together with local communities to help stop further transmission of the virus.

"The contacts and movements of confirmed positive cases have been robustly traced and all those who are deemed at risk of infection have been advised to self-isolate and are being offered testing.

“Through our investigations, we have found a small number of cases of the COVID-19 India variant (VUI-21APR—02). These are associated with recent travel to India. We are aware that there are cases elsewhere in the country and further work is taking place to help us understand how this variant behaves."

The cases are associated with recent travel to India. 

Critics of Japan’s plan to hold the Tokyo Olympics despite a fourth wave of coronavirus infections submitted a petition on Friday, signed by 350,000 people over nine days, calling for the Games to be cancelled.

Kenji Utsunomiya, organiser of the "Stop Tokyo Olympics" campaign, said the global sporting event - already postponed from 2020 because of the pandemic - should take place only when Japan can welcome visitors and athletes wholeheartedly. 

"We are not in that situation and therefore the Games should be cancelled," he told a news conference. "Precious medical resources would need to be diverted to the Olympics if it's held."

The petition was submitted to the Olympic and Paralympic committee chiefs as well as Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.

It came after Japan added three more areas to a state of emergency now covering Tokyo, Osaka and four other prefectures amid surging case numbers, just 10 weeks from the scheduled July 23 opening ceremony of the Games.

More coronavirus variants are bound to be detected but now "we know what to do", a World Health Organization expert said on Friday.

"I would like fear (of variants) to be turned into something productive, something of strength," Maria van Kerkhove, WHO technical lead for COVID-19, told a virtual briefing in Geneva.

The World Health Organization urged rich countries on Friday to reconsider plans to vaccinate children and instead donate COVID-19 shots to the COVAX scheme for poorer countries.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the second year of the pandemic was set to be more deadly than the first, with India being a huge concern.

"I understand why some countries want to vaccinate their children and adolescents, but right now I urge them to reconsider and to instead donate vaccines to #COVAX," he told a virtual meeting in Geneva.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of the coronavirus through India's vast countryside on Friday, as the country's official tally of infections crossed 24 million and over 4,000 people died for the third straight day.

India started deploying Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, the first foreign-made shot to be used in the country as it struggles with an explosion in cases and deaths.

Sputnik became the third vaccine to be approved by New Delhi in April, along with the AstraZeneca shot - made in India - and the homegrown Covaxin of Bharat Biotech.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which helped finance the jab, said vaccination started in the southern city of Hyderabad on Friday, making Sputnik V the "first foreign-made vaccine that is used in India".

The first token batch of Sputnik vaccines - reportedly 150,000 of them - arrived on May 1 and a second delivery is expected in the next few days.

Surge vaccinations in the regions worst hit by the Indian variant of coronavirus may go ahead after talks between council leaders and the Government.

The leader of Bolton Council said there had been discussions with the Government about the introduction of vaccines for younger age groups and suggestions were it would be progressed as soon as possible.

Asked about surge jabs, David Greenhalgh told BBC Radio 4's The World at One: "This is an issue of capacity but we have had very, very constructive talks and certainly all the soundings are is that they are looking to progress that as soon as possible.

"The vast majority of our cases are in their teens, 20s and 30s at the moment.

A museums director says he hopes people will get a mental health boost when collections open up to the public again this week.

Measures have been put in place to ensure that from Monday, visitors can safely visit museums which have been shut for months due to the lockdown.

Keith Merrin, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums' new director, said ticketing will limit visitor numbers at any time, there will be increased cleaning, and one-way systems will be in place around the attractions.

Speaking at the Great North Museum in Newcastle - home to Big Mike, a replica T Rex skeleton, as well as hundreds of animals and artefacts from around the world - Mr Merrin said: "We've tried to make it as safe as possible, not just for our visitors but obviously our staff as well, to make sure that the people can come and they can have a fun time.

"We know that so many people have suffered with their mental health during this period, or felt cooped up, and we also know that visiting museums, interacting with history, interacting with the world around people, really supports their well-being and makes them feel better."

Britain still plans to hold an in-person global climate summit in Glasgow later this year despite the pandemic, the event's president said on Friday, calling it the planet's "last hope" of averting catastrophe.

COP26 will gather climate negotiators from 196 countries and the European Union, along with businesses, experts and world leaders in the Scottish city between November 1-12.

There has been growing speculation the landmark summit - the biggest climate talks since the 2015 Paris negotiation - could be held virtually as coronavirus continues to ravage countries around the world.

Some fear swathes of delegates may be unable to attend in person due to outbreaks.

But British lawmaker and COP26 president Alok Sharma said in a keynote speech Friday - heralding six months until the event's conclusion - that the UK government would persevere with holding a physical gathering.

"The desire for one is what I've been hearing loud and clear from governments and communities around the world," he said from a windfarm near Glasgow.

The World Health Organization urged rich countries on Friday to reconsider plans to vaccinate children and instead donate COVID-19 shots to the COVAX scheme for poorer countries.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said the second year of the pandemic was set to be more deadly than the first, with India a huge concern.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of coronavirus through India's vast countryside on Friday, as the official tally of infections crossed 24 million, and over 4,000 people died for the third straight day.

India on Friday started innoculating its population with Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, the jab's developers said.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which helped finance the jab, said vaccination started in the southern city of Hyderabad on Friday, making Sputnik V the "first foreign-made vaccine that is used in India".

It said a first batch of the two-dose vaccine arrived in India on May 1 and a second delivery is expected in the next few days.

"RDIF stands ready to support our partners in India to launch a full-scale vaccination with Sputnik V as soon as possible," the fund's CEO Kirill Dmitriev said in a statement.

Sputnik was approved in India in mid-April under emergency use authorisation.

France has added Bahrain, Colombia, Costa Rica and Uruguay to its list of countries deemed as Covid-19 high risk zones.

This means that people arriving from those countries will have to undergo protocol measures such as quarantining on arrival.

The French Prime Minister's department added on Friday that those quarantine measures for travellers from those countries would take effect from May 16, as France aims to ensure that its third-wave of the virus recedes.

In April, France had put Brazil, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and India on its list of Covid-19 high-risk countries, requiring people arriving from those countries to undergo a 10-day quarantine upon arrival in Franc

Secondary school pupils in parts of the north of England are being told to carry on wearing face masks in the classroom next week amid concerns about the Indian variant of coronavirus.

Bolton and Bury councils are asking secondary schools and colleges to keep face coverings in place until further notice following a surge in cases.

The advice comes after the Government confirmed that it will remove the face mask requirement for pupils in England from Monday, when more indoor mixing is allowed when restrictions are lifted further.

A school leaders union' said it supported the schools which were planning to extend the use of face coverings among pupils beyond next week, adding that they are "best placed" to make the call.

MPs and parents have raised concerns about face masks in class disrupting pupils' learning and wellbeing since they were introduced in March, but unions and scientists have called for them to remain in class for longer to ensure pupils, staff, parents and the community are not put at risk of infection.

The estimated reproduction "R" rate in England moved up to between 0.8 and 1.1, Britain's health ministry said on Friday, and it is less clear that the epidemic is still shrinking compared to last week.

An R value between 0.8 and 1.1 means that, on average, every 10 people infected will infect between 8 and 11 other people. The R number has returned to its level of two weeks ago after last week when the estimated range dipped to between 0.8 and 1.0.

The daily case growth rate was estimated at -3% to +1%, compared to -3% to 0% last week.

Scotland is seeing a "loss of control" of the pandemic in some areas and it is premature to lift restrictions, an epidemiologist has warned.

Dr Deepti Gurdasani said action must be taken to prevent the situation worsening amid concerns about the spread of one of the new Indian variants of the virus north of the border.

Public health experts have warned that a spike in coronavirus infections in Glasgow could include the so-called B.1.617.2 variant.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the situation in Glasgow is being monitored "very closely", with cases in the city at 70.9 per 100,000 people in the seven days to May 10, according to latest data on Thursday.

Moray currently has the highest rate in Scotland at 98.1 cases per 100,000 and is unlikely to join the rest of the country by dropping down a level under the Scottish Government's five-tier system as restrictions ease on Monday.

Singapore further tightened its Covid-19 measures as it seeks to control an increase in untraceable infections in the city-state.

From Sunday until June 13, gatherings will be limited to two people, and restaurants can only provide delivery or takeout services. Companies will have to make working from home the default for employees who are able to do so.

"A pattern of local unlinked community cases has emerged and is persisting," Singapore's Ministry of Health said in a statement Friday.

"This is worrying as it suggests that there may be unknown cases in the community with possible ongoing community transmission and that our earlier and ongoing measures to break the chains of transmissions may be insufficient."

Infections not linked to identified cases have risen to 15 in the last week, more than double the week before.

The number of new cases has risen to 71 in the last week, from 48 the week before, as infections rise from a cluster tied to Changi Airport.

Sweden, which has shunned lockdowns throughout the pandemic, has registered 9,192 new cases since Wednesday, health agency statistics showed on Friday.

The country of 10 million inhabitants registered eight new deaths, taking the total to 14,275. The deaths registered have occurred over several days and sometimes weeks.

Sweden's death rate per capita is many times higher than that of its Nordic neighbours' but lower than in most European countries that opted for lockdowns. 

The number of people infected with Covid-19 continues to fall across the UK, according to new data.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show around one in 1,340 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to May 8 - down from one in 1,180 the previous week

This is the lowest figure since the week to September 5 when the estimate, which is based on a sample of the population, stood at one in 1,400.

The figures relate to people living in private households and do not include care homes, hospitals and prisons.

In Wales, around one in 4,230 people are estimated to have had Covid-19 in the week to May 8 - down from one in 2,070 in the previous week.

More than 30 Everest climbers have now tested positive for Covid-19 as the Nepalese authorities try to keep the lucrative mountain trade open through the country's coronavirus spike, Ben Farmer reports.

Nepal's government claims no one has caught the coronavirus on the mountain, but the biggest tour company arranging climbs told CNN that more than 30 of its clients had been infected.

The Himalayan nation has issued a record of more than 400 permits to scale the world's highest mountain this year. Last year's climbing season was cancelled by the pandemic, depriving the poverty-stricken nation of millions in revenue.

Hundreds of climbers, sherpas and staff have gathered at Everest base camp awaiting good weather for the climb and bloggers have reported that many are not sticking to social distancing precautions.

Nepal is being battered by a wave of infections brought by migrant workers returning from neighbouring India.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said he feels the pain of all Indians battling the pandemic, in a televised address on Friday

It comes after weeks of largely avoiding public comment on his country's devastating wave.

The Hindu nationalist leader's government has been stung by criticism of its handling of the virus, with his address coming as the country of 1.3 billion reported 4,000 deaths for a third straight day and 343,144 new infections.

Many Indians have taken to social media to accuse Modi's populist right-wing administration of abandoning them as desperate families scramble to find hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and anti-viral medicines.

Opposition Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the Prime Minister had gone "missing" like the oxygen and hospital beds.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson expects an easing of Britain's Covid-19 lockdown to go ahead on Monday, his spokesman said, after concerns were raised over the spread of a variant first detected in India.

"We've announced the changes that are taking place on Monday and the prime minister said yesterday himself he expects they will go ahead," the spokesman said, adding that a five-week period before the next planned step in the easing of restrictions would be a time to assess any new data closely.

"The prime minister himself has said that at the moment we don't see any evidence or data to suggest we're not on course for the timings in the road map."

Scientists are set to investigate the mechanisms of Covid-19 airborne transmission at the FA Cup Final, which is due to take place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.

The team will monitor indoor air quality as well as movement of air at different locations in the venue - with the aim of creating guidance on how to minimise the risk of airborne transmission of viruses at large-scale events.

The researchers said their work could help kick-start the sport and entertainment industry as restrictions continue to be lifted.

Dr Liora Malki-Epshtein, of University College London's Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering, said: "The first phase of the work will be one piece of the puzzle informing government policy on the feasibility and possibility of reopening events safely in the summer and beyond.

Around 22,000 people are due to attend the match between Chelsea and Leicester at Wembley as part of the Government's Events Research Programme (ERP).

owning Street insisted that the "vast majority" do self-isolate when they are told to, amid calls for the Government to increase financial support for anyone self-isolating.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister told a Westminster briefing: "Throughout we have seen the vast majority of people abide by the ask to isolate when they have been contacted by NHS Test and Trace.

"And that has played an absolutely massive role in reducing the transmission rate of the virus, and we are sure people will continue to abide by that request."

The public must help suppress the Covid-19 infection rate in the face of the Indian variant if the planned lifting of restrictions in June is to stay on track, the vaccines minister has said.

Nadhim Zahawi urged people in the 15 areas of England with spread of the Indian variant of concern to follow local health advice, get tested and isolate if they test positive.

London and the North West have seen the biggest rise in cases, with Public Health England (PHE) data showing the Indian variant has been responsible for four deaths as of May 12.

Germany has set a new European record for coronavirus vaccinations, giving 1.35m jabs in 24 hours, Justin Huggler reports.

The figure breaks Germany’s own previous record of 1.13m, set on May 5, and is far ahead of the UK record of 874,000, set on March 20.

The new record was set on Wednesday, but figures have only been released today (FRI) because yesterday was a national holiday.

Germany’s vaccine roll-out has accelerated dramatically since Easter, and this is the fourth time it has given more than one million jabs in a day. 

Four people have now died from the Indian variant of concern as of May 12, according to data published by Public Health England (PHE).

This comes as new figures reveal that around one in 1,340 people in private households in England had Covid in the week to May 8 - down from one in 1,180 the previous week, according to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It is the lowest figure since the week to September 5 2020, when the estimate stood at one in 1,400.

Thailand has the highest rate of suicide among Southeast Asian nations. It is estimated that one person tries to kill themselves every 10 minutes.

According to a 2019 World Health Organization (WHO) report, there are 14.4 suicides per 100,000 people in Thailand, whereas neighbouring Cambodia records 5.3 and the Philippines 3.2 per 100,000. 

The rate of suicide had already been increasing year-on-year in Thailand pre-pandemic, but during Covid-19, the figure leapt by 11 per cent from 2019 to the end of 2020, from 4,581 to 5,085 deaths, to according to statistics from the Ministry for Health. 

Thailand’s Department of Mental Health spokesperson Dr Varoth Chotpitayasunondh says that the groups currently most vulnerable to suicide are those who have Covid-19 and  those who live in the country’s ‘red zones’, the provinces with the most restrictions in  place. 

Health officials compare the country’s current economic situation to the 1997 Asian financial crisis, when suicides increased by over 20 per cent. 

Jack Taylor and Navaon Siradapuvadol have the full story here

Following an emergency meeting of the government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), its members agreed that "surge vaccinating would be implemented to help curb cases of the Indian variant", reported Sky News.

The Indian variant is believed to be more transmissible than the Kent variant.

The advice comes after plans to vaccinate over-18s in areas with high cases of the Indian variant, including Blackburn with Darwen, were pulled hours after being announced.

Public Health England modelling shows a possible sharp rise in cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) this autumn and winter, which can cause bronchiolitis. The modelling shows between 20 and 50 per cent more cases needing hospitalisation than normal, HSJ reported.

Official projections conclude that such a surge would require at least a doubling of paediatric intensive care beds and a significant increase in other critical care resources for sick children. 

According to the Oxford Vaccine Group and Oxford University, around 30,000 children under the age of five are estimated to be be hospitalised every year in the UK because of RSV. However, most of those expected to be affected by the rise in RSV this year are forecast to be three years old or younger.

The UK’s four chief medical officers are considering the issue and planning to write to ministers to highlight it, HSJ's sources said, while NHS England is working on a response plan, and is expected to alert local NHS leaders. 

 Japan on Friday further expanded a state of Covid emergency, currently in Tokyo and five other prefectures, to nine areas, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's government is determined to hold the Olympics in just over two months.

Japan has been struggling to slow the infections ahead of the Games. The three additions include Japan's northern island state of Hokkaido, where the Olympic marathon will be held, as well as Hiroshima and Okayama in western Japan.

The three areas on Sunday will join Tokyo, Osaka and four other prefectures already under the restrictions, until May 31, Suga announced at a government taskforce meeting Friday.

Bars, karaoke parlors and most entertainment facilities are required to close. Business owners who comply will be compensated; those who don't could face fines.

Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford said discussions to reopen nightclubs and indoor live music venues would not take place until June or July and would partly depend on the vaccination of young people.

Asked if a certain percentage of young people would need to receive a jab before clubs could open, Mr Drakeford said: "As of yesterday, 56 per cent of people in their 30s had already received a first dose of a vaccine, and 37 per cent of people in their 20s had received a first dose.

"That number is going to keep on rising and rise pretty quickly over the weeks ahead. So every week that goes by does extend the protection that vaccination offers to younger people, and that does mean that the reopening of some of those live venues will get closer.

"But the virus thrives in indoor settings, it thrives when people are close together, it thrives when people spend time together, and it thrives in places where ventilation is not a particularly strong feature of the venue.

The Indian coronavirus variant has been detected in a number of areas in England which are reporting the highest rates of infection, data suggests.

Data from Public Health England (PHE) shows a rise in cases of the Indian variant of concern from 520 to 1,313 this week in the UK, with the agency saying infections were "rising in the community" and it was assessing the impact and severity.

Although the Indian variant is thought to be highly transmissible, vaccines are expected to be effective against it.

The majority of the 1,313 cases of the B16172 variant, which was first identified in India, are in England, with PHE reporting 35 in Scotland, 11 in Wales and 12 in Northern Ireland.

The Department of Health and Social Care said most cases are in the North West of England, with some in London.

The variant has been detected in Bolton, Greater Manchester, Blackburn in Lancashire, and Sefton in Merseyside, which have all seen rates rise rapidly.

 A fat cat who piled on weight during lockdown when it is thought his owners gave him extra treats while they were at home more has been put on a special diet and exercise programme.

Colin weighed 1st 5lb (8.8kg), almost double the weight of an average adult cat, when he was taken in by Cats Protection's Downham Market Adoption Centre in Norfolk last month.

His owners had moved home and were unable to take the nine-year-old pet with them.

Staff at the centre have put him on a portion-controlled diet and a programme of supervised play with cat toys.

Their target is for him to slim down to 1st (6.5kg) as a starting point for further managed weight loss, when they can look for a new owner who will continue Colin's healthy living plan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the alarm over the rapid spread of coronavirus through India's vast countryside on Friday, as the official tally of infections crossed 24 million

A further 4,000 people died for the third straight day.

The highly transmissible B.1.617 variant of the first detected in India is also spreading across the globe, and Modi said his government was "on a war footing" in its fight against the contagion.

"The outbreak is reaching rural areas with great speed," Modi said, addressing a group of farmers in a virtual conference. "I want to once again warn all farmers and all those who live in villages about corona."

Four in 10 adults would be more likely to attend an event if they were required to show proof of a negative coronavirus test, figures suggest.

Some 41 per cent of adults were more positive about attending an event such as the theatre or a concert if they were required to show a negative test, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

A majority - 71 per cent - said they would be less likely to attend if it meant spending an extra two hours in the venue to allow for a socially distanced exit.

An event without any social distancing, being required to wear a face covering for the duration of the event and being unable to eat food and drink also put adults off.

Latin America is one of the regions worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with the death toll set to pass 1 million this month, and many do not want to wait any longer for their turn to get vaccinated.

From Mexico to far-flung Argentina, thousands of Latin Americans are booking flights to the United States to take advantage of one of the world's most successful vaccination campaigns.

Some people are going it alone, while others have tapped travel agencies, which have responded by offering packages that arrange the vaccine appointment, flights, hotel stay and even offer extras such as city and shopping tours.

"Want the COVID-19 vaccine? Have a U.S. visa? Contact us," reads a travel agency advertisement, offering deals to Mexicans to fly to the United States to get inoculated.

Chinese authorities have ordered mass virus testing for residents in two cities in the central province of Anhui, where the first new cases of local transmission in days have been detected.

It was not immediately clear how many people will be tested but the number is likely to be in tens or hundreds of thousands in the provincial capital Hefei alone.

Quick, inexpensive testing kits have made testing in China exceptionally convenient, with results generally available on the spot within minutes.

China says it has all-but eliminated domestic transmission of the virus.

The new cases reported bring China's total number of cases to 90,815 with 4,636 deaths since the virus was detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019.

The Irish attack was blamed on international criminals and was said to be targeting healthcare records, but officials said patient safety was not at risk.

"We have taken the precaution of shutting down all our IT systems in order to protect them from this attack and to allow us (to) fully assess the situation with our own security partners," the Health Service Executive (HSE) said.

"We apologise for inconvenience caused to patients and to the public and will give further information as it becomes available," it added, stressing Ireland's coronavirus vaccination programme was unaffected and "going ahead as planned".

HSE chief executive Paul Reid said the attack in Ireland was "an internationally operated criminal operation" and the authority was working with police, the army and its major IT security providers.

Nadhim Zahawi urged people in the 15 areas of England with spread of the Indian variant of concern to follow local health advice, get tested and isolate if they test positive.

Asked if the June 21 road map easing - when all legal limits on social contact are due to be lifted - could be put on ice, Mr Zahawi said this Monday's reopening of indoor meet-ups "is still on".

When pressed on whether the plans for June 21 could be paused, he said: "The way we don't have to do that is by everybody doing their bit, by taking the two tests a week, doing your PCR test in those areas, and to isolate, isolate, isolate."

An international study, led by Imperial College London's Institute of Global Health Innovation, found that UK public confidence in the health system's ability to respond to an outbreak has increased, but most other countries' opinions of how their governments handled the pandemic have worsened over time.

The survey, which included more than 540,000 people across 29 countries, aimed to track behaviours and attitudes in relation to Covid-19 and determine whether public health strategies were effective.

It found that low to middle income countries reported higher wellbeing scores than high income countries, while across Europe, the Netherlands had the highest wellbeing.

The report said: "Compared with May 2020, respondents' happiness is either worse or unchanged, and in seven of the 14 countries, life satisfaction also decreased over time, with South Korea remaining the unhappiest nation."

A fat cat who piled on weight during lockdown when it is thought his owners gave him extra treats while they were at home more has been put on a special diet and exercise programme.

Colin weighed 1st 5lb (8.8kg), almost double the weight of an average adult cat, when he was taken in by Cats Protection's Downham Market Adoption Centre in Norfolk last month.

His owners had moved home and were unable to take the nine-year-old pet with them.

Staff at the centre have put him on a portion-controlled diet and a programme of supervised play with cat toys.

Their target is for him to slim down to 1st (6.5kg) as a starting point for further managed weight loss, when they can look for a new owner who will continue Colin's healthy living plan.

The Government must "strive to keep schools open" in any future lockdowns, a safeguarding body has said, as child abuse and death cases jumped 27% during the first Covid wave.

In its second annual report, the Child Safeguarding Review Panel said it had received notifications of 482 serious incidents relating to 514 children last year.

Local authorities must notify the panel, set up following the implementation of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, of the death or serious harm of a child in their area if they suspect it resulted from abuse or neglect.

Of the 482 cases reported over the course of 2020, 206 involved the death of a child and 267 related to serious harm.

Some people have been able to work from home during the pandemic and will find it easier to achieve more flexible working in the future, but others may have fewer options, said the union organisation.

It published a report highlighting that flexibility is not just working from home, but includes having predictable or fixed hours, working as a job share, or flexitime, term time-only hours, annualised or compressed hours.

The TUC said many more workers should have the right to set hours, to enable them to manage their working life and other commitments such as childcare, rather than having to make different arrangements every week when shifts are announced.

General secretary Frances O'Grady said: "A sole focus on home working rights would create new inequalities for those who cannot easily work from home."

The measure would be a potential reversal of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s stance that borders would remain largely closed until New Zealand’s population was vaccinated.

New Zealand's strict border controls have kept the country largely Covid free and it has seen a tiny fraction of the cases and deaths seen for example in Europe and the Americas.

But the restrictions have also isolated the country and meant it has been out of bounds to most international visitors for more than a year.

The country is also now less vaccinated than much of Europe, with only around 6 per cent of people having had one or more jabs.

Ms Ardern said: "The first question we are asking, is: do we need to have completed our vaccine rollout in order to open up our borders beyond the bubble arrangements we already have? The answer is possibly."

Researchers from the Nuffield Trust and the Resolution Foundation warn that boosting compliance with self-isolation is critical to resist the threats posed by new variants and rising cases as restrictions ease further.

They propose a modified version of the Job Retention Scheme, which would allow employers to apply for capped grants to cover the lost wages of any employee needing to self-isolate.

It adds that the self-employed could access similar levels of support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said: "We're not yet thinking, largely because of the Indian variant, we're not going to change the rules about people more generally. We expect the two-metre social distance to be sustained."

Asked whether people will be able to hug a family member outside of their household bubble or extended household, Mr Drakeford replied: "I'm afraid you have to wait a little bit longer.

"We can change the rules, we don't have to wait two or three weeks. If we get advice that says it's safe to move ahead on that, we'll do so as soon as we get that advice.

"But we are just pausing to make sure that we have the best possible evidence about the newly emerging risks that there may be because of (the) Indian variant."

Andy Burnham said he would not welcome local lockdowns to combat the spread of the Indian coronavirus variant.

"My heart sank yesterday when I heard the Prime Minister reintroduce the possibility of local lockdowns; they really didn't work," he said.

"We were under different forms of local lockdown pretty much for the whole of the second half of last year and it took a huge toll on people, obviously on our businesses and our economy.

"We are in a different situation this year because, even though we are seeing spread of the Indian variant in Bolton, we are not seeing the same numbers of people going into hospital because obviously older people are more protected now.

"So we don't need to have the same response that we had last year. We do believe if we move quickly on vaccination we can take away any risk of a local lockdown."

Dame Cressida Dick said bars and restaurants will be a "big focus" for the force when lockdown restrictions ease on Monday.

She said it is "perfectly possible" that some people may "over-indulge" as they are allowed back in to pubs with friends from May 17.

"A big focus for us will be the licensed economy, because now people can go indoors, it's perfectly possible after all this long time of being unable to see our friends, that some people will over-indulge," she said.

"London is not actually - when you compare it with other cities - a city that has massive problems with alcohol-related violence.

"But of course that is an issue. We will be out there in the areas where we think there could be trouble."

A three-year funding package of £13.5 billion is required in England to reverse the disruption to pupils' education due to the pandemic, according to the Education Policy Institute (EPI) think tank.

Ministers should extend school hours, offer more incentives for teachers to work in "challenging areas", and allow some pupils to retake the year as part of its education recovery plans, the report said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already made £1.7 billion of catch-up funding available in England to help children who have faced disruption from school and college closures due to Covid-19.

As part of the recovery package, this year summer school will be introduced for pupils who need it the most, while tutoring schemes will be expanded.

Boris Johnson has vowed to push ahead with lockdown easing on May 17 despite a spike in Indian variant cases, amid hopes that a local surge in vaccinations can contain the threat.

It is expected that:

• People will be able to hug each other once again.
• The ban on overseas holidays will lift for "green list" countries
• Overnights stays will be allowed
• Face masks will no longer be needed in secondary school classrooms
• University students will return to in-person teaching
• Cinemas and theatres will be able to reopen

Read more here

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) study found that almost four out of five respondents were not planning to require proof of vaccination from customers, suppliers or employees.

Only five per cent said they had implemented such measures.

The BCC's survey of more than 1,000 businesses suggested that social distancing and hand sanitising were the Covid-19 measures firms were most likely to expect to continue to have in place over the next year.

Hannah Essex, co-executive director of the BCC, said: "This research shows that government must quickly clarify what measures will be required for businesses to maintain safety standards after we reach the final stage of the road map on June 21."

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said there is currently no evidence that the variant first identified in India "escapes the vaccines".

He said Monday's easing of restrictions in England will still go ahead despite concerns around the B1617.2 variant.

"We think that the road map for Monday remains in place, because the vaccines are delivering, and vaccines are keeping people out of hospital and, of course, away from severe infection," he said.

He added that the Government was "confident" this could continue but said officials would "continue to monitor" the situation.

Nadhim Zahawi said trials of vaccinating all adults in multi-generational households have been "successful" and could be a "tool" for use in areas where there is a surge of the Covid-19 variant first identified in India.

"The multigenerational household trials, in Luton and in Slough and elsewhere, have been good, they have been successful, which is why I think it's a tool in our armoury," he said.

Asked why this was not being implemented now, he said: "The clinicians will make those sorts of recommendations, the decisions, and we will flex the vaccination programme accordingly."

Mr Zahawi said the Indian variant "seems to be more infectious, but there is no evidence on the severity of disease".

Boris Johnson faces questions over why the Government failed to close the borders to India more quickly.

Ministers waited until two weeks after banning flights from neighbouring Pakistan in April before announcing that India would be added to the "red list" of countries.

It meant between 5,000 and 8,000 people from India flew into Britain on daily flights from across the country in each of the two weeks.

Read the full story here.

New coronavirus guidance says wedding or civil partnership ceremonies will be able to happen provided they are at a Covid-safe venue that has been allowed to open.

Under the government rules up to 30 guests can attend a reception or celebration, an increase from a maximum of 15 people who have been allowed at such events since April 12.

Social distancing between people who do not live together is not required, although anyone attending a wedding is urged to exercise caution and be mindful of the risks of transmission.

Dancing is advised against due to the increased risk of transmission, although the couple are allowed to have their first dance.

Receptions can take place indoors, but not in a private home, or outdoors where it could be allowed to take place in a private garden.

Plans for Covid passports have been significantly scaled back as government ministers privately question whether they should be adopted at all, The Telegraph understands.

Covid status checks are unlikely to be required for cinemas, small theatres or restaurants, according to latest government thinking, with pubs already ruled out.

A meeting of the Covid Operations (Covid-O) committee last Friday about how status certification should be used in the UK saw concerns aired.

Some ministers questioned whether there was a clear health benefit to adopting the scheme and requested more evidence, according to a well-placed source.

Read the full story here.

Over-50s will be offered health MOTs alongside their booster jabs this autumn under NHS plans.

Sir Simon Stevens, the head of the NHS, said health checks such as blood pressure screening and cholesterol measurements, which help to identify health problems in the middle aged, would be on offer alongside the vaccines. 

The programme – which may also involve lung cancer checks – aims to catch potentially deadly conditions earlier, when they are easier to treat.

Read the full story here.

In a letter sent out on Thursday, GPs were told the use of telephone and online consultations can remain where patients benefit from them, but physical appointments must also be available from May 17.

All practice reception desks must now be open to patients, in a Covid-safe manner, so those who do not have easy access to phones or the internet are not disadvantaged when accessing care.

Total triage was a system whereby patients were remotely screened and directed to the most appropriate health service for their problems, and was introduced as a Covid-19 precaution.

GP appointments were also conducted by telephone, video or online unless it was clinically necessary for a consultation to take place in person.

Currently around half of consultations in general practice are being delivered face to face.

Before the pandemic, some 70% of appointments were face-to-face and 30% were phone, video or online, but this switched to around 30% face-to-face and 70% remote at the height of the crisis.

Celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid with his family on Thursday, Umar Mogra needed no reminder of the lethal capacity of Covid-19.

In February the virus swept through his family home in the narrow terraced streets of the Rumworth area of Bolton, infecting Umar, a 24-year-old pharmacology student at the University of Central Lancashire, and claiming the life of his 54-year-old father.

On Thursday, Umar attended socially distanced prayers at the nearby Al-Falah Mosque on Gibraltar Street.

Normally a day of celebration with family and friends, it was a deliberately reduced affair. “I don’t want other families to go through what we have,” he says.

Read the full story here.

Clare Matterson, executive director of engagement at the London venue, said the museum's online content has proved "incredibly popular" during the pandemic and has been a "lifeline" for some.

She added that new audiences and people who have "never been here, and perhaps might never be able to come here" have benefited from the online resources.

"We have had some of the most wonderful letters from people who have disabilities or particular conditions to really say please don't stop these events, they have been a lifeline during lockdown," said Ms Matterson.

Online resources include a nature tour, wildlife guides, interactive talks, videos and games.

The Natural History Museum will open again on Monday after coronavirus restrictions are further eased to allow indoor entertainment venues to reopen.

Cases of the new Indian variant have more than doubled for the second week in a row – with 1,313 cases confirmed – and some scientists fearing the B.1.617.2 variant will become dominant in the UK.

The clusters remain predominantly located in the North West and London, but health officials in Bedford have also raised alarm at an apparent spike.

It has spread three times faster than previous variants of concern, such as that from South Africa, according to analysis by the Telegraph.

Read the full story here.

First Minster Mark Drakeford said the lowering of the country's alert level was prompted by levels of coronavirus remaining low and vaccination rates the highest in the UK.

According to the UK Government's Covid-19 tracker, Wales' seven-day rate is 9.2 per 100,000 people - significantly lower than England on 22.1, Scotland on 23.8, and Northern Ireland on 32.6

Monday's reopening of indoor service for pubs, restaurants, bars and cafes as well as entertainment venues like cinemas will come alongside allowing up to 30 people to take part in organised indoor events and up to 50 people in organised outdoor events.

Mr Drakeford will confirm at Friday's press briefing that international travel will also resume from Monday, but extra safeguards will be put in place to prevent the virus re-entering Wales and the Welsh Government advises people to only travel abroad for essential purposes.

Delaying the second dose of Pfizer by 12 weeks creates a three and a half times greater immune response in older people, a study has found, in an apparent vindication of government strategy.

The antibody response in people aged over 80 is three and a half times greater in those who have the second dose after 12 weeks, compared with a three-week interval, the study found.

Researchers said the study of 175 people, who were older than 80 and living independently, is the first direct comparison of the immune response in any age group for the different intervals.

Read the full story

India on Friday reported 343,144 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, taking its overall caseload past the 24 million mark, while deaths from Covid-19 rose by 4,000.

The South Asian nation has added nearly 1.4 million cases and over 16,000 deaths this week. Its total caseload now stands at 24.05 million while total fatalities are at 262,317, according to health ministry data. 

The first repatriation flight for Australians from India will arrive in the Northern Territory on Saturday after the lifting of a two-week travel ban, officials said.

The flight will carry up to 150 citizens and permanent residents who will be required to spend two weeks in quarantine at a converted mining camp in remote Howard Springs, a Northern Territory health department spokeswoman said on Friday.

Canberra banned all travellers from India, including its own citizens, from entering Australia for two weeks until May 15 and said offenders could face jail, drawing criticism from some lawmakers, expatriates and the Indian diaspora.

The government aims to more than double capacity at Howard Springs, 25 kms (16 miles) southeast of Darwin, to 2,000 passengers every two weeks from June. There are about 9,000 Australian citizens and permanent residents in India seeking flights home.

Mainland China reported seven new cases on May 13, including its first local transmissions in more than three weeks, the country's national health authority said on Friday.

Two of the new cases were local infections in the eastern province of Anhui, the National Health Commission said in a statement. The cases were the first local transmissions since April 20, when China recorded two local infections in the southwestern province of Yunnan, where a city on the border with Myanmar reported a new cluster in late March.

The other five cases announced Friday were imported infections originating overseas. The commission had reported nine cases a day earlier, all imported.

Japan has decided to add three more prefectures hit hard by the pandemic to a state of emergency, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday, in a surprise move reflecting ' growing concerns about the virus's spread.

"There were various views expressed at the meeting (with experts). Based on those views, we retracted our original proposal and came up with this new one and got approval for it," Mr Nishimura told reporters after the meeting.

Japan will add Hokkaido, Okayama and Hiroshima prefectures to the state of emergency now covering Tokyo, Osaka and four other prefectures, he said. Another three prefectures would be added to a list of regions under a "quasi" state of emergency of targeted measures.

Pfizer repeatedly offered to sell its vaccine to Brazil's Health Ministry between August and November last year, but got no answer from the government, Pfizer's chief executive for Latin America told lawmakers on Thursday.

A Senate commission is investigating whether President Jair Bolsonaro's government mishandled the pandemic by failing to secure vaccines in time to curb a surge that has killed more than 430,000 Brazilians.

Pfizer executive Carlos Murillo said that on Sept. 12 the company's CEO sent a letter to Mr Bolsonaro and others in his cabinet, including then-health minister Eduardo Pazuello, expressing interest in providing Brazil with vaccines.

The letter went unanswered for two months, the parliamentary commission has established.

• Boris Johnson vowed on Thursday to push ahead with Monday's lockdown easing despite a spike in Indian variant cases, amid hopes that a local surge in vaccinations can contain the threat.
• Boris Johnson faces questions over why the Government failed to close the borders to India more quickly.
• There is growing concern that Bolton, already hit hard by Covid, could be about to endure another wave in infections. 
• Cases of the new Indian variant have more than doubled for the second week in a row – with 1,313 cases confirmed – and some scientists fearing the B.1.617.2 variant will become dominant in the UK.
• Plans for Covid passports have been significantly scaled back as government ministers privately question whether they should be adopted at all, The Telegraph understands.
• Over-50s will be offered health MOTs alongside their booster jabs this autumn under NHS plans.
• President Joe Biden told Americans on Thursday that the lifting of the rule on indoor mask wearing was "a great day" in the fight against Covid-19 and that they could now "smile again".